Thursday, February 16, 2012

"The new rule was originally proposed to the Rules Committee by the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission in response to the crisis in funding civil legal aid services to low-income families and individuals.

"The proposed new rule would require lawyers, except those who will provide pro bono service to indigents, to pay a $300 registration fee per case to the Board of Bar Overseers. The Board may retain a portion of the fee to cover costs, and shall pay the balance to the IOLTA Committee for distribution in accordance with S.J.C. Rule 3:07."

"Unlike rules of court, the Standards of Judicial Practice are not mandatory in application. They represent a qualitative judgment as to best practices in each of the various aspects of the civil commitment procedure. As such, each court should strive for compliance with the Standards and should treat them as a statement of desirable practice to be departed from only with good cause."

The Order adopted today helps put an end to these intrusions by empowering consumers with increased rights under the FCC’s telemarketing rules. The new rules reduce regulatory uncertainty with minimal burden on industry and maximize consistency with those of the Federal Trade Commission. Specifically, the rules protect consumers by:

Requiring telemarketers to obtain prior express written consent from them, including by electronic means such as a website form, before placing a robocall to a consumer;

Eliminating the “established business relationship” exemption to the requirement that telemarketing robocalls to residential wireline phones occur only with prior express consent from the consumer;

Requiring telemarketers to provide an automated, interactive “opt-out” mechanism during each robocall so that consumers can immediately tell the telemarketer to stop calling; and,

Strictly limiting the number of abandoned or “dead air” calls that telemarketers can make within each calling campaign.

The provisions of the new rules take effect over the next year. For specific information on effective dates, see paragraph 66 of the order.